Welsh company’s research reveals progress in cloud computing adoption across the UK

UP IN THE CLOUDS?

83% of UK companies have begun their cloud journey, but regional variations and barriers to cloud nativity remain, research by Mobilise reveals

• More than 4 in 5 businesses (83%) have adopted the cloud to some extent, but only 29% are already cloud native
• A cloudy picture: but regional variation of cloud adoption remains, with the North East of England (19%) lagging behind London (34%) in terms of cloud native firms
• Fewer than one in five (17%) firms provide dedicated training on cloud systems for employees
• If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it: Legacy systems are the biggest barrier to cloud adoption (24%)

New research released by Mobilise has revealed that more than four in five UK businesses (83%) across the UK have begun their cloud journey, and are in the cloud to some extent, with the pandemic having a big impact on uptake.

Among them 29% firms have taken the next step are and already cloud native, meaning their approach optimises their systems for the cloud, taking full advantage of the cloud to build and run applications.

But it’s a cloudy picture, with significant variation in cloud adoption based on location and company size; 34% of London firms claim their IT systems are cloud native, while only 19% in the North East of England are. Cloud native IT systems are also much higher (52%)in companies with fewer than 500 employees, compared to larger companies (37%).

LEGACY WORKING POSES THE BIGGEST BARRIER TO ADOPTION

But the research commissioned by Mobilise found that reliance on legacy systems is holding businesses back from full integration and eventually becoming cloud native. Almost a quarter (24%) of businesses reported it to be the biggest barrier to adoption, followed by financial outlay (19%), lack of staff capacity (18%), lack of understanding (14%) and decision makers not recognising the need for the cloud (13%).

DEMAND REMAINS FOR EXTERNAL SUPPORT

High demand also remains for external support with cloud migration, with 87% of businesses saying they would either definitely use or consider using an outsourced supplier.

Only 39% were confident that their IT teams could manage migration internally. Although this confidence is much stronger amongst smaller companies (56%), compared to larger firms (38%). But more than half (57%) of all companies surveyed said that their existing IT teams would need some level of support to migrate to the cloud.

Despite significant appetite for cloud migration among UK businesses, dedicated training is still lacking, with just 17% of firms providing dedicated training sessions for all employees in how to use the cloud. Of those surveyed, 14% expected IT teams to deliver training on the cloud to other employees with no additional training themselves.

CLEAR SKIES AHEAD: MOVING BEYOND MIGRATION

With a high take up of initial migration, Mobilise are encouraging businesses to take the next steps towards becoming cloud native and building a cloud ‘Centre of Excellence’. Half (47%) of survey respondents said they had already embraced cloud native technologies and processes, and over a fifth (22%) plan to follow suit.

James Carnie, Co-Founder and CTO of Mobilise, said: “It’s no surprise that reliance on legacy systems is the biggest barrier to adopting the cloud. The ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ mentally persists in so many businesses.

“What is surprising is how few businesses are taking their teams with them on the cloud journey. Firms won’t get far if their firms aren’t properly trained, even with the best of intentions.

“Companies who fail to fully embrace the cloud will soon find themselves on the back foot and losing out to firms who are more agile, secure and cost effective due to cloud integration. In fact, firms who want an edge over competitors really need to be aiming for not just cloud nativity, but cloud excellence.”

On trends for 2022, James said: “Next year, as companies move towards becoming cloud native and creating cloud centres of excellence, the focus will be on data.

“Collecting, analysing and getting the best value from the data you hold is what’s going to set companies apart in 2022. We’ve seen this trend coming for some time so we, at Mobilise, are investing our data and analytics offering.”

“But training and knowledge will continue to be a barrier to adoption in 2022, with the cloud skills shortage highlighted in our research likely to worsen. We’ll also see continued demand for external support, so companies must ensure that they consider internal resource requirements when planning their cloud goals. Without the right support and training internally, projects will fall short.”

More information can be found in the full report Taking your team on the cloud journey: from cloud migration to becoming Cloud Native and Building a Cloud Centre of Excellence. Mobilise commissioned a research company to conduct an independent survey of 603 small, medium and large companies across the UK, representing 20 different sectors.

MOBILISE’S STEPS TO BUILD YOUR OWN CLOUD CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE:

1. Set out your vision: Consider the skill level you need within your team, training requirements and the processes and technology you have in place to enable agile, fast-moving IT delivery function
2. Stabilise and standardise: Get an understanding of your current cloud infrastructure and take the best of it forward
3. Prototype: Train and certify individuals to take forward your migration
4. Migrate: Cost up how much it will be to run your services in the cloud, and start with non-critical applications first
5. Optimise: Once you’re in the cloud, consider how to optimise workloads to make them more cost effective
6. Transform: This is where the advantages of the cloud kick in. Take advantage of auto-scaling and multi-availability zones
7. Educate: Become a cloud champion – promote best practice and share information across the business, ensuring governance is adopted across the organisation